Sweet, Sweet Ugliness - 95%

Back when they released their self-titled full-length album in 2011, their style certainly gravitated to Doom Metal energy. What they’ve done with this EP is; first of all, throw all of that Stoner music out of the window. Secondly, they alternated to a Black Metal sound for this EP. If the guest vocals on “A Body Amorphous” from Ludicra front woman Laurie Sue Shanaman didn’t give that away by now, I am sorry for spoiling the surprise for fans of older Hazzard's Cure.

But I really loved this EP. “The Ugly”, which shares its name with the second track, is a perfect fit for what this music comes across as. The vocals, instead of being rasped or screamed, are shouted or sometimes shout-sung. With the exception of the guest vocals, Chris Corona brings a fresh approach to singing Black Metal that definitely sounds ugly. I would even go as far as to say that these kinds of vocals possess a denser sense of grotesqueness than stereotypical howling or screeching vocals. I associate that kind of singing; take the vocals on Wolves In The Throne Room just as an example, with a vocal dialect that illustrates a language spoken only by ghosts, demons and spirits. Corona’s singing style on “The Ugly” is anchored down by its own humanity, unlike Wolves In The Throne Room but still expresses a tone of voice as if it came from someone with a severely deformed body.

Hazzard's Cure have embraced this fascination with the grotesque and mutation of the flesh and the horror that carries as a new direction to go with their sound. A lot of this same expression of carnal frailty can definitely heard in the musicianship as well. The guitar leads carry this gypsy-like vocalizing to them that remind me of those old folk tales of gypsy witches putting curses on people to have them become hideously ugly. I think these Burlesque elements provide a lot of tangible character all of the songs on this record. The guest vocals from Sue Shanaman fit right in but I would prefer if the band kept the male shouting vocals.

There’s not a whole lot more I could say about these three songs but what I will say, in conclusion, is that this EP was a tremendous release and I want to hear more of Hazzard's Cure taking this new direction down further and further bringing more horrors to light with their atmospheric music. “The Ugly” was certainly something I could relate to.